The Secret Mew
by AngecondaBite
Summary: Sophie is a normal girl who finds out she is a Mew Mew - and a target to the aliens. Things get complicated when she falls in love with the enemy alien Dren. Will they overcome their feelings for each other; or will true love conquer all?
1. Chapter 1 Who IS that guy?

**Okay, before you read this; I need to explain something so there is no confusion. :) This story takes place after the aliens return to their planet, thus making this story a "Tokyo Mew Mew" story. Although I like Tokyo Mew Mew better than the English version: Mew Mew Power; I decided to use their names. So, if you don't know anything about Mew Mew Power; let me jot down the names right here. ^^**

**Zoey = Ichigo**

**Bridget = Lettuce**

**Corina = Mint**

**Kiki = Pudding**

**Renee = Zakuro**

**Elliot = Ryou**

**Wesley =Keiichiro**

**Mark - Masaya**

**Dren = Kisshu**

**Sardon = Pai**

**Mini Mew = Masha  
**

**Okay, that should do it for now. Enjoy!**

Sophie slowly drew her hand across her sweaty forehead. She stared off at all the wooden ramps and metal rails, doing kickflips and ollies and grinds in her mind. She glanced around at the large audience watching the skater performing before her. He was pretty good, but wasn't very graceful and lacked balance on his grinds. She clutched her board nervously. This was her disadvantage. She didn't have enough faith in herself and got nervous before every tournament. She could do this; she did every other time - and all those times she did fine.

She watched carefully as Nick; the guy performing, slowly swerved back to his place. Sophie was up - and she was ready. She quickly leaped into action, kicking off into a double kickflip and drawing up into a careful manual towards the winding rails. She gracefully ollie-ed up onto the first set of rails and ground down them occasionally kicking up into a kickflip or ollie. As she slid down the rails she began to crouch, ready to kick up onto the towering ramp facing her. She rode up it and ollie-ed onto the top, grinding down the length of it.

She continued doing various tricks and grinds when she spotted someone she didn't recognize atop the bleachers; looking down at her. There was something strange about him, but she couldn't place what at this distance. She quickly looked away and continued her performance. Just a minute to go and she was off.

The crowd was exploding around her; cheering her on as she gracefully ground down back to her place and did an impossible as a finale. She panted and smiled as she looked out at the crowd; seeing her parents in the front row clapping and whistling. She had done well; but then again; so had the other participants. Slowly, her eyes were drawn from the dazzling audience and upward onto the bleachers. There stood that mysterious guy still watching her. She looked around for her parents; they were busy talking to some friends. As she was looking around, she felt a poke on her shoulder and jumped in surprise.

"Hey Sophie, that was quite a jump there. You seemed pretty out of it or something." It was Kailey, one of the three female participants at the tournament, and one of her best friends.

"Umm, yeah - sorry. You just startled me. I saw someone I didn't recognize in the back of the audience." Stupid reply, she thought. It's not like I know everyone here anyway.

"Huh, okay." She raised an eyebrow, but said no more abut it. "You did great today by the way. Wanna go out for ice cream with me and Delilah?" Already, the third girl was walking up to them, holding her car keys.

"Sure, that'd be great." Sophie said, happy to change the subject. "But we'll have to be sure to be back by 3:00, when they announce the winners."

Kailey smiled, "Yep - and I bet you'll be one of them."

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Sophie twirled the straw of her milkshake around as Delilah went on about how perfectly balanced Will's grinds were and how he never stumbled on his landings and how he was so focused on what he was doing and on and on. Will was Delilah's new 'secret' crush. She had told Kailey; which meant that now everyone else knew. Despite the fact that she was a reliable friend, she was really bad with secrets.

"Oh, and did you see that impossible that he did? That was the smoothest..." But Sophie stopped paying attention after that. She had looked towards the bushes surrounding the tiled patio of the ice cream shop, and was sure she had seen that guy from the tournament. Her gray-green eyes opened wide in alarm. Was this person stalking her?

"Guys, I'll be right back. Gotta check on something." She trotted over behind the building, towards the well trimmed bushes when suddenly something caught on her foot and she tripped, falling face first into a bush.

"Argh, crap! What was that?" She whirled around to see a fat brown tree root jutting up out of the ground. She heard chuckling nearby. She glanced over at her friends; but they were still engaged in conversation.

"Hey little fox, checking the gravity? Looks it still works." A guy with shaggy dark green hair emerged from behind a bush.

Sophie immediately went into defense mode. "What do you think you're doing? Are you stalking me, or are you just lounging in a bush nearby some perfectly good chairs just because you feel like it?" She softened a bit and said more calmly, "Who are you anyway?"

"The name's Dren." he replied smoothly.


	2. Chapter 2  What Is Wrong With Me?

Sophie straightened. "Okay, so you haven't answered my other questions yet. Are you stalking me or not?"

"No, not stalking you. Just looking for the opportunity to say hi." He smiled. "So, hi."

Sophie made a confused smile. This was so weird. But he was kind of cute. He had curious, expressive eyes and a playful smile. His sense of style was a little different. He had a dark shirt on showing his midriff with baggy shorts of the same colour. He had a rather large hat on his head, covering his ears. Despite the strange clothes; she liked people who set their own style.

"So, little fox. What's your name?" Dren asked.

"Sophie... Sophie... Fox." What on earth was up with the random nickname? Did he somehow know her last name already? It was displayed on the skating tournament sheet after all.

"Well Sophie, would you like to meet me at this shop for some ice cream at 6:00 tonight?" He sounded hopeful.

"Uh, Dren, I just met you. I don't think so." She felt herself turning red, and when she looked up she saw that Dren suddenly looked satisfied with something. She nervously scratched her head and felt two fuzzy lumps. She jumped; startled. "Do I have something on my head?" She demanded. To her surprise she heard a laugh, and Dren was gone.

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She quickly jogged back to the table that her friends were still chatting at.

"Hey Sophie! What were you... um, nice head band." Kailey laughed. "Where'd you get it?" Delilah joined in laughing.

"What are you guys talking about? I'm not wearing a headband..."

"Ohhh, so you sprouted ears? Okay, makes sense." Delilah giggled.

Sophie gulped. What were they talking about? What did they mean ears?

"A matching tail too. Were you invited to a costume party or something?" Kailey had a curious look in her face, as if she really believed this to be true and wanted to come too.

"Will you excuse me a moment?" Sophie stammered as she fled into the building and into the bathroom. As she slowly raised her head toward the mirror, she yelped. There, firmly planted on her head were two large fuzzy, black animal-like ears. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she raised her hand to her head. She tugged on each one in turn. They didn't come off, but rather hurt like crazy. She whirled around to see a fuzzy black tail behind her, wagging faintly.

"What is going on?" Sophie hissed to herself. "Dren!" She found herself saying. He must have something to do with this! He would be here at 6:00 and she could demand an explanation. But in the meantime, how could she go back to the skate park looking like this? Imagine she won! She would have to stand in front of everyone and get her picture taken; all with these... animal parts.

Suddenly she had an idea. She dug around in her jacket pocket. Thank goodness, it was there. Out she pulled a black beanie with white and pink flowers embroidered along the base. She pulled it over her head, flattening her ears. It didn't look too bad - although it made her ears feel slightly uncomfortable. Now for the tail, she thought as she carefully tucked it into her jeans. There, this worked - at least until she could get Dren to tell her what had happened to her.

She calmly exited the building and sat down next to her friends again.

"Haha, sorry about that guys. I just wanted to see if you liked that new look. I wasn't sure to wear them or this hat." She wished she could punch herself for such a stupid explanation, but it was the best she could come up with.

"It's cool." Kailey raised an eyebrow. "You have been acting a little odd today. You feeling okay?" Her normally carefree, playful voice had a tinge of concern in it.

"Haha, yeah! Why would you think that? I am feeling great! I'm just... a little energetic from all that sugar in the milkshake. You know what ice cream does to me." She smiled innocently. It was kind of true. She did get pretty hyper when she had too much sugar.

"Okay. Just making sure you're still up for going back to the skate park to hear the winners." Kailey said, "We have to leave in a few minutes."

"Alright, I'm ready when you are." Sophie said. Suddenly her stomach growled and she felt like she really need something to eat. For some weird reason, hot dogs sounded really good - even though she hated them most of the time. "Umm, would you mind if I grabbed a hot dog really quick before we left?" She clutched her stomach, indicating her hunger.

"Haha okay, make it quick though. We don't want to be late."

Sophie dashed into the building and quickly ordered an extra large chili dog with extra cheese and fries on the side. The cashier raised an eyebrow. "You sharing with a couple people?"

She suddenly realized how big of an order that was. But she also realized that she could definitely eat it all due to her intense hunger. "Well, maybe I dunno. I'll probably save some for later!" She replied.

The cashier looked impressed and disgusted at the same time. "Okay." He simply said and passed the order to the cooks.

Sophie went to sit down as she waited for her order. She looked out the window and watched little brown rabbits chasing each other across the well-manicured lawn. She had the strange desire to go out there and chase them too, but she couldn't figure out why.

After a couple of minutes she went up and got her enormous chili-covered hot dog and met back up with her friends. She dug her fork into it and raised a huge bite to her mouth.

"Good grief Sophie! Did you not have lunch today?" Kailey eyed her suspiciously.

"What? Oh, yeah I had lunch today. But hey - I'm growing! I need this food."

"Where do you put it all...?" Delilah asked enviously.

"Haha, you know, I have no idea." Sophie replied, shoveling another forkful into her mouth, as the other two girls looked at each other strangely.


	3. Chapter 3 I Want Answers!

"Third place goes to... Nicolas Jensen. Second place... Thomas Cunningham." Applause filled the skate park as the winners were announced. Sophie held her breath as she anticipated the name of the first place winner.

"As for first place... give it up for... Sophia Fox!" The crowd was roaring around her as she stepped forward to claim her prize.

"Thank you everyone! I am so honoured to accept this prize..." Suddenly the crowd had erupted in laughter. She turned to see that the speaker suddenly looked really tall - and he was stepping away from her. She slowly lifted her hand, and saw that rather than a hand - she saw a fuzzy black paw! She twirled around to see she had become completely furry! She had turned into an animal!

"Sophie?" She saw a very tall Kailey walking towards her cautiously. "Is that you Sophie? Sophie...? Sophie!"

She jerked awake to find herself curled up in Delilah's Camero with Kailey standing over her. It was just a dream! Sophie sighed in relief.

Kailey laughed. "Boy, I thought you were dead for a minute there! That hot dog must have really knocked you out."

"Wow! I was having crazy dreams." Sophie said. "How long was I out?"

"Oh, not too long. But you sure were a hard one to wake up!" Kailey smiled warmly. "C'mon, they're getting ready to announce the winners.

They walked towards the seating area and Sophie plopped down next to her parents. She watched as the announcer stepped forward with a white envelope in his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen! If I may have your attention please." The buzzing crowd slowly silenced. "Everyone did wonderfully today, in fact the judges and I have never seen such performances. It was very difficult to choose just four winners - but alas, here they are! Coming in fourth place is Kailey Thomas!" The crowd applauded heartily, and Sophie looked down, feeling butterflies rise in her stomach "In third, is Wallace Kingsly!" Again the crowd errupted in claps and whistles as the second winner stepped up. "Second, Sophia Fox!" Sophie's heart leaped. Despite the dream she had had, she hadn't been expecting to come so close to first place! She eagerly stepped forward. This time, everything was real and she really had won! She was so elated that she barely heard the winner's name, "William Olsten" and Delilah's delighted cheers. She felt so happy that she was beginning to feel a little warm. Realizing she had a hat on, she pulled it off - expecting to cool down because of it. But instead, she suddenly remembered the incident earlier. She felt her face turn red and she put her hand to her head. Just hair. No ears! Relief poured through her - as well as confusion. But now wasn't the time to think about this, she had a prize to accept!

"Congratulations to you all! For all four of you; an autographed poster by Tony Hawk." He passed out large posters to the four winners. "And a medallion for the fourth and third place winners." As he said it, a silver "4th Place" and gold "3rd Place" were placed over the winner's heads. "As for the second and first place winners..." A volunteer stepped up holding two shiny trophies of different sizes. "These lovely silver-plated trophies!" Sophie's eyes went wide as she saw the slender, carefully polished cup placed into her hands. "Wow, thanks so much!" She breathed quietly. She couldn't belive she won second place! She had worked hard for it and had done her best, but it was still so crazy that she had made a place next to Will; probably the best skater here!

"And with that; I declare the end of this spectacular event!" The announcer held up his arms as to indicate that the audience should give a final round of applause. The crowd gave a final hearty cheer and then the sound of bustling and chatter filled the park. To Sophie every noise was very clear to her, and was beginning to give her a headache. She heard someone step up behind her.

"Hey there Sophie!" It was Will. "Just wanted to tell you, you did great! Congratulations!"

"Thanks Will! You did awesome too." Then she added, "I think there's someone who wants to talk to you." She indicated behind him, to a waiting Delilah. As he turned, she was sure she had seen him blush as he saw who was behind him. They struck a conversation instantly, and Sophie left to find her other friends. She spotted Kailey in the crowd of people and rushed over to her, "Hey Kailey!" She greeted warmly. "Can you believe it? We both won!"

"Hi Sophie. Umm, what are you talking about? I didn't win..." Kailey looked confused.

"What are you talking about? I heard your name announced as fourth place!"

"Kevin Long won fourth place... You must have heard my brother in the audience saying 'Kailey Thomas' as his name was announced. He was just playing around - and he was pretty quiet.. You sure have some sharp ears!"

Sophie paled at the news. How could she have heard the whisper and completely have missed the announcer? "Huh, that's odd..." Sophie couldn't think of anything else to say.

"So!" Kailey changed the subject. "Some of the other guys along with Delilah and me want to go to the ice cream shop again. Are you up for another milkshake?"

Perfect! They could all hang out and have ice cream and Sophie could hang back to meet Dren and make him tell her what was going on with her! That way she wouldn't have to explain the weirdness to her parents - she was a little worried that they would think she was crazy or something. "Sure! That'd be great. In fact, I'm actually hungry again." As she said it, her stomach growled.

Kailey laughed, "Having another growth spurt are we?"

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It was almost twilight when Kailey and the others finally left. Sophie had told them that she would hang back a while and enjoy the cool evening.

After finishing a second package of Doritos, Sophie got up from her seat to go to the restroom. She looked at her watch; 5:55. She wondered when Dren would be showing up. Anytime now most likely.

She finished up in the restroom and briskly walked out the door and out onto the table area to see Dren; sitting at one of tables, staring moodily out into the coming twilight. Sophie quietly paced over to the table and sat down. "Dren." She said a little more bitterly then she had intended. He looked towards her slyly. "Hey there little fox, decided to come after all?"

"Indeed! I want some answers. What have you done to me?" She glared at him.

"What have I done to you? What makes you think I have done something to you?" He laughed carelessly.

"You were the last one I talked to when these... these, animal ears came out of my head! Plus, you seemed to find it amusing - while my friends were wondering if there was something wrong with me!"

Dren looked slightly hurt. "Sophie, it's not me who did this to you. Two scientists named Wesley and Elliot did this to you. They made you into what they like to call a Mew Mew - in other words, you were infused with the DNA of an animal - in your case, a fox - giving you special powers... and some traits of the animal as well."

Sophie gaped. What on earth was he talking about? That was impossible! There was no such an invention as this! But then again, he had described the symptoms she had been having all day. Abnormal hunger, a desire to go chase rabbits, the fact that she was suddenly very sound sensitive... "I have no idea what you're talking about, Dren. Why would someone want to make me into... an animal-person?"

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about." He suddenly pulled off his hat revealing very large, elf-like ears. Sophie gasped. "You see Sophie, I am kind of like you. I don't fit in here. In fact, I don't even come from this planet. I come from a planet that is very... inhospitable to us and humans alike. Times have become extremely hard lately. The weather is getting hotter and dryer everyday - and we get sandstorms nearly every week." He looked down, clearly upset about something else as well. "My mother died just under a month ago." His voice sounded cracked when he said it.

"I'm sorry to hear all this Dren, but what does this have to do with me?"

Dren suddenly held his head up. "Well, my people and I have been observing your planet for some time now. We see that you humans don't take care of it like you should. You are slowly destroying this beautiful planet while we sit back and watch miserably as you waste what you have. We feel that we can do better living on this planet ourselves, which is why we have decided we must destroy everything on this planet so we can start from scratch. You were mutated by Elliot and Wesley to help stop us. There are five other Mew Mews besides you who have already made their effort to stop us. I don't know where you came from, but we need your help Sophie. Join me and together we can make this world a better place!"

Sophie was suddenly really freaked out. "Dren! Why would your people want to destroy us? Why not just talk with our presidents and ask if your race and ours can share the planet? There's plenty of room for all of us! You could even teach us how you would make the earth better! Besides, humans have more potential than you think! We are trying to change our wasteful ways by going green and recycling and things like that! We don't want to destroy out planet at all! In fact, we are putting forward many efforts to help it!"

"You have no idea what it's like Sophie. You humans have been living in luxury for a long time while we suffer on our barren planet. We are running out of food and everything else while you have a fertile planet and what looks to us like an unending supply of food. We are dying out quickly... we need this planet - or we may die out within the next few years due to lack of food and the wretched weather." He looked up, frowning. "How can you not see that we need help!" He turned away, running his fingers through his hair.

Sophie didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to help him, but she would never betray the people that she loved!

"Dren..." She said softly. She heard rustling in the bushes nearby. "I can't betray my own people like that. I'm very sorry about..." but as Sophie made her reply, Dren suddenly came close to her and before she could do anything about it, he kissed her. "I hope you consider my offer... " He said quickly. "Until we meet again." The he vanished.

She covered her mouth. He had kissed her! She felt a tinge of anger for his impudence. As she sat there, too shocked to do anything; she heard rustling in the bushes again, louder this time - and suddenly five colourful girls leaped into view.


	4. Chapter 4 I Get Some Answers And A Job

Sophie straightened in her seat. She was quite certain that they had all seen that.

"Um, hi..." Sophie managed. "Can I... help you?"

"Hello." A girl with pink hair approached her. "You're Sophie, right?" As she got closer, Sophie suddenly realized that this girl had ears. And a tail too!

"Uh... yeah, that's me." Sophie stood there, trying to take in what had just happened. From what she could see, the four girls standing behind the pink-haired girl had something animal-like about them too.

"Good. We need to talk to you. My name is Zoey, and these are my friends Bridget, Corina, Kiki and Renee." She gestured to each one in turn.

Sophie realized these must be the Mew Mews that Dren was talking about. She frowned, confused.

"Will you please come with us for a bit?" The girl called Renee stepped forward. "We have answers for you."

Sophie wasn't sure how to respond. Could she trust these 'Mew Mews'? She did want some more answers though - like what these 'powers' that Dren was talking about were. She held her head up. "I suppose. But you guys are going to have a lot of explaining to do.."

"She's just like I was." She heard Zoey say to the others quietly. "Okay, follow us. We'll show you to the van."

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Sophie sat silently in the very back of the dull gray van. It was quite dark now, and the road they were traveling on was dimly lit besides the glaring lights of the sparse cars. She curled up with her knees tucked under her arms. She hoped this wasn't a bad idea, going with complete strangers to somewhere that she couldn't even picture in her mind. According to Zoey, they were headed to a cute little cafe that was actually a secret hide-out for the Mew Mews. She would believe it when she saw it. She looked out the window at the black autumn sky. Stars were scattered across the huge blanket of darkness; twinkling like fireflies in the night. It looked so much later than it was. It could be no later than 7:00. She hadn't talked to Dren that long, even though it had felt like it.

She suddenly felt a hot tear trickle down her cheek. Whether it was from confusion, insecurity or pity; she couldn't tell, but she definitely felt awful. Reality began setting in, slowly and tortuously. Things would never be the same again. She was a mutant now, and there was nothing she could do about it. Would she ever be accepted again? Would people find out that she was half fox? Questions surged through her mind; most of them this Elliot character probably couldn't even answer.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the van came to an abrupt halt. "We're here." She heard Renee announce as she pulled open her door.

Sophie leaned forward, trying to get a glimpse of this "secret hideout" place, but the windows were pretty foggy so she couldn't make anything out. She quickly unbuckled and flew out the door getting a distance away from the van so she could look at the building before she made any decisions to go in it. Sure enough, it was indeed a charming little cafe. It was two stories tall and decked out in pink and hearts. This sure didn't look like a secret hideout for superheros.

"C'mon Sophie! Come meet Elliot and Wesley!" The little blonde Mew Mew said enthusiastically. Sophie thought her name was Kiki, but wasn't sure. 'Kiki' grabbed her hand and hauled her to the big, chestnut brown double doors and pulled them open. "Welcome to Cafe Mew Mew!" She announced.

Sophie looked around. It looked just like it did on the outside. Cute, charming, pink and heat-laden - and so not the secret hideout one would imagine. Well,it apparently put the secret in secret hideout. As she was glancing around the room, she suddenly saw two men approaching her and the other Mews. One was blonde with hard blue eyes. He was wearing a black muscle tee and faded blue skinny jeans. The other was practically the opposite. He had long brown hair and kind brown eyes. His style matched his looks; he wore a white dressy shirt with a black bow-tie and gray trousers, topped off with some suspenders of the same colour.

Sophie couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. These were the mad scientists who had made her into a mutant? They looked way too normal to her. The blonde guy scowled at her when she laughed at them, but the other said gently, "Now Elliot, we don't need to make the new girl feel uncomfortable, now do we?" Sophie found his voice strangely soothing and she felt her previous worries and concerns melt away. "Hello Sophie, I am Wesley, and this is Elliot." He gestured to the grumpy blonde. "Don't mind him. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's great when you get to know him." She saw Elliot roll his eyes as if he was used to Wesley telling every new Mew Mew this.

"Uhm, nice to meet y'all." Sophie said calmly. "I guess you already know that I'm Sophie." She laughed. "I've had a lot of stalkers lately..."

"We had to do a bit of spying in order to confirm that you were indeed a Mew Mew. You were harder to tell than the rest, and we will explain that later." Elliot said, locking eye contact with her as if he were challenging her to a stare-down.

Sophie stared right back as she said, "It would be appreciated if you explained now. That is why you brought me here, is it not?"

Before Elliot could snap back, Wesley stopped him and said, "All will be explained in good time. But for now, the Mew Mews have reported that you have been talking to the alien, Dren. We would like to know what he has told you and how it affects you."

At the mention of Dren and the fact that they had seen everything that happened; Sophie felt her face turn red. She looked down; embarrassed. She imagined what Elliot's face probably looked like right now, and she suddenly felt a tinge of anger surge in her chest. "What affect does it have on you?" She demanded irritably.

"Sophie, we need to know so we can see what a threat the aliens have become now." Wesley gently stated.

Sophie's heart softened again and she sighed. "He didn't say much. Just that his planet is getting worse everyday and they want to take over the Earth. He also mentioned that you guys are responsible for making me half-fox. What's that all about? And I now have powers? How do I use them - and what are they for? Why do we want to destroy the aliens when we could easily just talk it out?" Her questions were suddenly cut off by Zoey.

"Sophie, you are a Mew Mew now. That means that you are going to help us save the world." As she said it, she handed Sophie a small golden pendant with a small pink heart on it. "What do I do with this?" She asked.

"Press the button! I want to see what you look like as a Mew!" Kiki said.

Worth a shot, right? Sophie asked herself as she touched the button. She suddenly felt a rush flow through her and her feet were lifted off the ground. She look down and saw, instead of her usual black skater-shoes - she was now wearing gray go-go boots. Her outfit had changed too. Her jeans had changed into black shorts, while her striped T-shirt was replaced by a black tank-top with a silver corset underneath. She looked at her hands to see silver fingerless gloves, instead of her usual lucky black ones. A black and white frilled band placed itself around her neck and right thigh, and she felt her soft ears on her head and the fluffy, silvery-black tail. On her chest, she saw the golden pendant attached to the frilled band around her neck. "Wow..." was all she could manage.

"Wow indeed. Looks as if you are a Silver Fox." Wesley observed. "From my what I believe, it seems that the Renee's DNA transfer was larger than the others, and half of it must have leaked and found its way to you. We never know what comes from each dose until further investigation; we just know whether it is canine, feline, bird and so on. Renee is a gray wolf, so it is no surprise that you became an animal of the same class. I suppose you were more difficult to find, because of your smaller dose. Renee was the last to have been found of these five; and we only found her because of a sighting of a wolf-girl that was published in the newspaper."

"This is crazy..." Sophie said as she looked in the mirror. Upon further investigation, Sophie found that instead of the usual pink streaks in her hair; black highlighted her normally blonde hair, which was now a glossy silver. Her hair's length had changed as well; being shoulder length before and coming down to her shoulder blades now. Added to that; her eye colour had changed to a stormy gray. "So... How do I use these "powers" or whatever?"

"We'll save that for another time. For now, we need to let you know that you will have to work here from now on." Elliot said as he threw her a soft parcel. Sophie opened it to find an extremely frilly gray dress with light pink accents. A white apron lie atop it as well as a frilled white headband. "So... I'm a maid now?" She asked raising an eyebrow. "I don't really like dresses..."

"That is your cafe uniform. You will wear it when you come into work." Elliot stated.

"But I haven't even accepted this job yet..." Sophie pointed out.

"You have to-" Elliot started.

"What he means is, if you work here; you will be undercover and we can call for you anytime we have a mission. Just imagine being a superhero and helping save the world!" Wesley said enthusiastically.

"Well... I do need a job, since I'm almost 16 now. Alright, I accept!"


	5. Chapter 5 What Side To Choose?

"We would like for you to start work here tomorrow, if that's all right." Wesley said. "We will drive you home now if you would like."

"That would be great." Sophie said. She was looking forward too getting home and processing all that had just happened that day.

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"See you tomorrow!" Zoey called out as Sophie exited the van and headed up the wooden steps of the patio. "Alright!" She called back. She had found out that the Cafe was actually just two miles away from her house - but she had never seen it since it was in an area that she normally never visited. She was pretty relieved at this since she didn't yet know how to drive and didn't want to waste her money on the bus.

Sophie opened the big red double doors of her house to be greeted a warm cozy light and the welcoming smell of cinnamon coffee cake. She was drawn into the kitchen by the wonderful aroma and as she entered she saw her parents standing by the counter, talking quietly.

"Oh! Sophie, there you are." Her mother smiled warmly and welcomed a hug. "Where were you? We weren't expecting you to be gone so late, and you weren't answering your phone."

"Ah, sorry about that." Sophie said as she pulled her pink and black polka dotted phone out of her pocket. It was dead. That's what happens when you forget to charge it! She thought irritably. "I was out with some of my friends and they had actually found me a new job! I had an interview with them, which was why I was gone so late. I wish I could have told you, but they hadn't even told me!"

"Wow! That's great news. Quite sudden, but still good." Her Dad said. "Where are you working, and when do you start?"

"Well, I'm actually working at that little cafe down the street. I start tomorrow." Sophie smiled happily. Despite the truth behind the cafe; she was still pretty happy to have found herself a job so easily.

"Well, good for you." Her Mom said. "Now come have some coffee cake. It's fresh out of the oven." She dished out a slice of the fluffy brown cake and placed it on a dish. "Enjoy!" She said as she handed it to her.

"Mind if I take this upstairs?" Sophie asked. "I'm exhausted from today and want to get ready for bed."

"Go for it. You need a good night's rest after such a big day." Her dad said.

Bigger than you think. Sophie thought miserably.

She headed up the stairs and, after finishing her snack and getting into her pajamas; she plopped onto her bed and pulled out her journal. She picked up her pink feathery pen and began scribbling down her day. It was nice to get it out somehow; without having to tell anyone that she was half fox.

She was nearly finished jotting down the details of her crazy day when she heard a tap on the window. She looked up casually and got up to open her blinds, expecting that the noise came from a waving tree branch. She nearly screamed when she saw it wasn't. It was Dren, standing causally on her balcony. "Hey little fox. Writing about me?" He asked looking down at the black and white journal in her hand.

Sophie gulped and quickly closed the blinds and backed away. She heard another tap. And another. As a third one arose, she opened the blinds again and said. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of here Dren! You are going to wake up my parents!"

"That wasn't very nice of you to close the blinds like that." He said, ignoring what she had just said.

Sophie glared. "What do you want, Dren?"

"To know what the Mew Mews told you." He replied.

"Why? What does it matter to you?" She was annoyed how he and the Mew Mews kept making her relay things to them.

"Did you accept the job?" He looked concerned.

"How do you know about-?" She stopped. She suddenly realized that he must have been fighting against the Mew Mews before and knew about these things. "Yes I did." She replied sharply. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to get some sleep so I can be refreshed for the start of my new job tomorrow." She nearly closed the blinds again, but then Dren said, "Don't do it Sophie. They take advantage of you. They are going to make you work six days a week and fight monsters in between. They won't give you a break. But I would." He held out his hand. "Please Sophie. Open the door and come help me. You can come meet my boss - he would be very happy to have someone as powerful as you come and join us."

"Your boss...?" Sophie frowned. She didn't remember anyone telling her about more aliens being here. "No Dren. I still hold to what I said before. You have to understand." She felt a strange hurt inside her as his usual playful smile faded.

"Think about it Sophie. You will be seeing me again." Then he did his signature vanish.

Sophie closed the blinds and looked down. She hated making people feel bad, but this guy needed to understand that she loved the humans of earth and that she wasn't about to just destroy them. She sat back down in her bed and put her head in her hands. Why did this have to happen to her? Why did she become a Mew Mew? Her mind surged with questions. None very pleasant.

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

Dren sat atop a tall black sky scraper with his chin resting on his hand. He couldn't stop thinking about Sophie. She wasn't turning out like Zoey did. She wasn't rude to him, even though she got frustrated with him a lot. He liked that though, for some reason he always enjoyed seeing girls getting angry. But he always felt kind of bad when they insulted him or were harsh - even though he never showed it. He wondered what she thought of him. Did she have respect for him at all? He had learned to be more gentle to girls after what happened with Zoey; so she couldn't dislike him that much. Or did she? Was she angry with him for what he was sent here to do? Probably, after all - he wouldn't be very happy if someone wanted to destroy his family and friends and everything else that belonged to him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized why she had been upset. But why didn't she understand that he had family and friends too? All he was doing was trying to save them from famine. He thought about what she had said at the ice cream shop. Why couldn't his people and theirs' work together? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he frowned. No. That couldn't work. The humans were much too selfish and critical. They would never let aliens onto their planet willingly. He sighed and stood up. No use just waiting out here. He thought. Better get back to the hideout.

He teleported to the huge abandoned mansion where he and a few others had been hiding out.

"Why hello Dren." A voice greeted him. "Any news on the new target?" Footsteps echoed through the eerie hall as a dark figure arose to meet him.

"Not much, Master." Dren said, kneeling down onto the dusty floor. "She still refuses to join us."

"Dren. You know you don't have to call me that." His booming laugh echoed throughout the room. "What son calls his own father that?"


	6. Chapter 6 Kidnapped!

Sophie woke with a start as her alarm went off. She looked over at it. It was 6:30 AM, but because she hadn't had much sleep; it felt more like 3:00 in the morning.

She got up and paced over to her window, opening the blinds and letting in the faint glow of dawn. She narrowed her eyes as they adjusted to the light. The memory of the day before began to weigh down on her mind again as she got herself ready for the day. She wished it could all have been a dream.

She slowly outfitted herself in dark skinny jeans and a gray T-shirt with silver wings and pink roses plastered across it. She pulled on her black, silver studded fingerless gloves and pink tennis shoes and headed downstairs to find her mother in the kitchen, baking muffins.

"Good morning Sophie. Sleep well?" Her mom greeted her.

"Eh, I don't know. I was having some insomnia issues last night." She tried to rub the sleep from her eyes as she said it.

"Oh dear, not again." Her mother sighed. "Why don't you start drinking tea before bed again?"

"No, it's fine. Just one night." Sophie smiled assuredly.

"Alright, if you say so." Her mother replied. "Would you like some muffins before you start school? They're almost done." Sophie looked at the oven to see the timer at three minutes.

"Sure, that'd be great." Sophie said quietly as she went to sit down at the kitchen table. She rested her chin on her hand and looked at the flower arrangement in the center of the table. Light pink and white flowers were bunched inside with dark green, slender leaves jutting out the sides. Dark green... like Dren's hair. Why am I thinking of him? Sophie sat up straight, annoyed and slightly alarmed. The memory of when he kissed her dug its way into her mind. She closed her eyes, clearing her mind.

Her thoughts were broken as her mother came up with a plate of two big blueberry muffins. "Enjoy!" She said as she set it down in front of her.

"Thanks Mom." Sophie said in a slightly glum voice.

"Is everything okay?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. I'm just tired." Sophie stated, nibbling on on of her muffins. "Would you mind if I had four of these?" She asked.

"Wow! You may be acting a little odd today, but your appetite hasn't changed any!" Her Mom laughed teasingly.

Once Sophie finished her delicious breakfast; she got out her school books and started working on them, but found it difficult to focus. She was glad that she was home schooled, or the teacher probably would have snapped at her for day dreaming.

School took much longer than usual, and she finally ended up finishing at around 2:00. She had to hurry and get ready since she was due to go to work at 2:15. She grabbed her purse and crammed the parcel of her uniform into it. Then she grabbed her skateboard and rushed out the door calling, "See you later Mom! Be back after a while!"

She jumped onto her board and began skating down the street. She passed a string of cute little houses as well as their beautiful local park. She paused to look at it. There were lots of bushy trees with several little animals out climbing around and chasing each other across the grass. Flowers lay in clusters around the stout trees and across the dirt walking path. She marveled at the beauty of the area and wondered why she never normally came this way. As she was standing there she felt a thick meaty hand curl around her shoulder and a gruff voice saying, "Alright, I found her you guys!" Startled, Sophie jumped into action, whirling around and doing a powerful side kick at the guys stomach, who was at least a head taller than her. The guy choked and loosened his grip for a minute and Sophie broke away, running into a tall skinny guy with a red Mohawk. One more guy stood near her as well. She was surrounded! She suddenly realized that they all had big, elf-like ears - like Dren! They were aliens!

he saw that behind the guy with the Mohawk, she could make the quickest escape, so she lunged at him, kicking him in the chest, and while he was down, trying to punch him in the face. But he was too fast and he caught her fist and pushed her away.

"Man, this one is mean!" He said clutching his chest and scowling.

"Quit being a wimp!" The big guy who had originally caught her said. "Get her!"

Sophie suddenly picked up her skateboard. "You do NOT want to know what this would feel like on you head!" She yelled angrily at him.

"Indeed I would not." The guy with the Mohawk, who was now behind her, said calmly as he grabbed the other side of her board, which had been raised above her head. Sophie spun around and knee-ed him. He doubled over in pain, losing hold of the board and dropping to the ground. But, as he dropped, the third man stepped in and quickly pulled the board from her grip and snapped it in half on his knee. Sophie's eyes went wide in anger. "How dare you!" She yelled.

"That's what you get for coming back to bite us! Now! Why don't you be a tame little fox and do what we say?" The big guy grinned in satisfaction. Sophie knew she couldn't handle all three at once. But she wouldn't give up, she didn't even know these peoples' intentions. She knew they weren't good though since they didn't handle this like civilized people.

Just as hope began to fade, someone dropped in out of nowhere and stood in front of her. "Back off! She's my responsibility - not yours'!" Sophie suddenly realized it was Dren!

"Yeah, well you weren't taking care of business - so we decided to help out!" The big guy growled.

"Shut up, Krej! You know that I am more patient than you - and you also know that that works better than anger." Dren glared at him. Sophie wondered what they were talking about.

"It may work better for you - but it doesn't always work. My way is a win guarantee!" Krej grinned, showing yellowed teeth.

"This is still my job, and I can finish this the way I want." Dren shot back.

Krej sighed. " Eed and Mud - what do you think?" He looked at the two other guys; who, now that Sophie had time to look them over - looked a lot alike. They were both tall and skinny, and had similar hair cuts, but she noticed that Mud's Mohawk was shorter.

Eed sighed. "Well, I was really hoping that we could get the credit so that we could be promoted... but, Dren is right. This is his job."

Krej scowled, but finally said, "Fine, you win this time. But we will be convincing the Boss to let us take the job if you don't hurry it up." With that, the trio disappeared, leaving Dren and Sophie alone.

She saw that Dren was looking down, looking shaken with anger. "I hate them." He said through clenched teeth. "They think they're better than me, but I'll show them." He suddenly grabbed Sophie's wrist and before she could say anything, she was suddenly felt herself being lifted from the ground and then it seemed as if she were thrust through time. She felt completely numb, and her hair was blowing wildly as if she were on a roller coaster. Within seconds she found herself standing on a dusty wooden floor in the middle of a spacious round room. They had teleported! She looked to her side to see Dren beside her, still clutching her wrist. She jerked away and backed up, eying the old room. It looked to be an old fashioned sitting room. There were a few chairs scattered around the room, all covered with what had used to be white sheets, which were now a faded brown colour. Piles of books littered the floor around the sparse furniture, all coated in dust. She looked up to see cobwebs clinging to the corners of the ceiling and draped along the old crystal chandelier. The smell of mildew and dust hung in the thick air, and an eerie breeze sifted through the dust and grime, steadily chilling the dark room.

"W-where are we?" Sophie voice echoed through the hollow room.

"We are at the meeting room of our hideout." Dren replied bluntly. "My boss will be here soon." His eyes darted around the room, clearly expecting something.

"Why did you take me here?" Sophie demanded. "Are you turning me in to the bad guys? What are they going to do to me?" She felt her eyes stinging from horror.

"Don't worry!" Dren's voice was tinged with worry and frustration. "I won't let them hurt you." He smiled weakly.

Sophie was trembling with fear and cold. Them? She wondered how many there were. She didn't have that little pendant with her, so she couldn't transform. Even if she could, she didn't know how to use her powers.

Suddenly, a cold voice pierced the air. "So, I see you have finally brought us our key to victory."


	7. Chapter 7 The Impossible Is Possible

"I wonder why Sophie hasn't showed up yet!" Zoey said as she dried one of the white china dishes resting on the counter.

"She probably decided she didn't want to join us. I mean, why should she trust us? It's only realistic to keep that in mind." Renee said while washing dishes beside Zoey.

"Because we're the good guys! She doesn't have reason to trust Dren and the aliens either!" Zoey frowned at the thought of a Mew Mew joining the aliens.

"I never said she did." Renee stated. "Stop jumping to conclusions. She probably doesn't know what side to take, so she is probably at home carrying on with her regular daily activities, trying to forget what happened. I was hesitant to join at first too. But I finally decided it was the logical decision to help you guys out. She'll come through eventually."

Zoey sighed. _I guess she's right. _She thought_. We were all hesitant about accepting the fact that we were part animal. Except Kiki that is - but she's the optimist of the team anyway._

Their conversation was interrupted as Elliot rushed into the room. "Girls! It's time to transform! We just got a signal of Sophie. She is somewhere downtown - and several aliens were detected in the same spot. We need to hurry!" As he said it, Bridget, Kiki and Corina rushed into the room holding their Power Pendants.

"Power Pendant; Activate!" They recited in harmony.

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

Sophie's heart skipped a beat as the sound of footsteps approached her. She breathed in shakily as a tall cloaked figure came into view at the end of a long hall. At the far end of the hallway there was a window, omitting an unatual blue-ish light, making the man an outlined shadow. Sophie felt as if her feet were bolted to the floor. She stood there, completely frozen in place. The man continued approaching until he finally stood face to face with Sophie. She slowly raised her head to see the man had a pale face and yellow, reptile-like eyes. His mouth was a hard line and everything about him made her feel weak and dreary.

He let out a cold chuckle. "She looks quite weak to me. Look at how she is cowering."

Sophie stood up straight and glared at him. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being called weak. "You'd be surprised yourself, if you looked in the mirror!" She heard Dren chuckle in the background.

"Silence, Dren. So, Fox. You think you're so bold? How would you like to know that we are going to turn you to the dark side?" He snarled, pulling out a black pendant with a silver skull on it.

"Dad, no! That wasn't the deal!" Dren cried. "You said you wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Your... Dad?" Sophie looked at him in horror. "Wait, so he's you Dad - and you are working for him to destroy the Mew Mews?" She slowly backed away.

"Who ever said this would hurt her? She won't feel a thing." The man who was apparently Dren's father ignored what she said and began to approach her. "Would you like to know why I am going to make you turn evil?"

Sophie gave him a sarcastic look. "You can't _make_ a person turn evil."

"Oh? And you can't make a person into a part fox. Or can you? You'd be surprised what we can do." He grinned evilly. "This Pendant here is a lot like your own. Although when you press it, you turn into your animal form, but with evil intentions. Then you will help me make the humans pay for what they have done." He had a miserable, crazed look in his eyes when he said it.

"What... what have we done? There are only a few of us who know you exist!"

"It's thanks to you Mew Mews that my wife died!" He cried angrily. "If you hadn't interfered with Deep Blue's plans, we could have been living in peace on this planet. My wife would have had the food and medicine that could have saved her!" His shouts echoed though the room. "That is why I have decided to carry out Deep Blue's plans to take over this world - only my way; and _I _won't fail." He narrowed his eyes. "Now, come take this Pendant; or else." He indicated around the room to slowly approaching people. Sophie began to back away, but bumped into another alien. She stopped and looked around hopelessly for a way out. She certainly felt like a small fox surrounded my approaching wolves. Her eyes darted around searching for some opening. She had to find a way out. Suddenly she had an idea.

She began to approach one of the aliens guarding the door; she was a female. _Perfect. _She thought. "Hey! Who's that guy behind you?" She shouted. "He looks like he's about to go for your neck!" The womans eyes widened in fright and she whirled around as some of the other aliens began to shout it was a trick. But it was too late; Sophie had already dove under her legs, shot up and dashed down the hall. She chuckled in satisfaction as she raced away. _Boy, they may be strong, but they sure are gullible!_ She was glad that she was fast; or the few aliens coming after her probably would have caught her by now.

She continued racing down the hall until she came to an abrupt stop. It was a dead end! How did the aliens always come from this spot if there was no entrance? She spun around, trying to find a way out. The window in front of her was the only way. She looked behind her to see five aliens running towards her and then she began to unlatch the window. She pulled it open and almost fell out as she saw that she was at least five stories above the ground. She poked her head out to see a balcony above her, the rail was just out of arm's reach. She sighed hopelessly. What could she possibly do now?

She saw an alien quickly gaining on her and, after her eyes re-adjusted to the dim light, she realized it was Dren.

"I've got her guys! She's found herself trapped in the teleportation entrance!" He looked back to see that the other had stopped and begun to walk back. "Hurry! There's not much time." He hissed.

"Wait... You're helping me escape?" She asked.

"I didn't mean for this to happen." He said glumly. "Now take my hand."

She did as she was told and before she knew it, she was back at the park, standing next to her shattered skateboard. "Thanks." She said; cocking her head.

"I'm sorry about what happened. I have to get back now, I'm going to have a serious story to make up." Then he disappeared.

Sophie felt her knees buckle under her in relief. _That was so close... I wonder what would have happened... _As she sat there, she heard people running towards her. It was Elliot and the Mew Mews.

"Sophie! What happened? We got a signal of you being near the aliens! We were just getting ready to rush over there. Are you okay?" All the girls were talking at once.

"Yeah." Sophie gasped. "I'm okay." She shakily stood up. All the running and panic had really drained her.

"Why weren't you at the Cafe?" Elliot asked sternly.

Sophie looked up desperately. "I was on my way when a bunch of aliens tried to kidnap me. Dren succeeded... but then... helped me escape." She frowned. The more she thought about it, the less sense it made.

"Why?" Elliot asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I.. I don't really know. He didn't seem to realize he was putting me in danger or something."

"What did you find out? Anything?" Elliot continued.

"Well, I found out that the new leader of this alien team is Dren's father. The previous leader was someone called Deep Blue... whoever that is. Anyway, this new bad guy created some kind of a Power Pendant, like the one you gave me - only it's black with a skull on it. He said that if I pressed it, I would transform and become evil. I'm not sure I believe him though.." She frowned, remembering what he said about it.

"Never underestimate the enemy." He replied. "Most likely, he has developed some kind of an evil new weapon. It would be best if you stayed on guard. You never know what kind of tricks he has up his sleeve."

"How is this possible...?" Sophie muttered to herself as they began to head to the Cafe.


	8. Chapter 8 I'm a What?

"So, what happened, Dren?" His father's cold eyes pierced through him like an icy blade. "I cannot believe you let her slip through your fingers like that." He eyed him angrily.

"I told you! She somehow slipped out the window! I think she must have made it up onto the balcony and made her escape from there." Dren frowned, trying to hide his guilt.

"I am ashamed, Dren. Very ashamed. I am giving one more opportunity to fix this. If you fail, your job will be given to Eed and Mud Eldeewt."

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

"Welcome to Cafe Mew Mew! Will you have a seat over hear, please?" Sophie said in her most bubbly voice as she led a family of four to one of the little white tables and took their order.

After jotting down their orders, she headed back to the kitchen to see Zoey, Corina, Bridget, Kiki and Renne waiting for her. "You're doing a great job, Sophie!" Zoey said cheerfully. "We just wanted to let you know that it's nearly time to close up shop."

"Oh, okay." Sophie said. "We have one family left. Here's their orders." She handed over the notepad that had the list of foods on it.

"Wow, nice hand writing." Zoey commented. "A lot easier to read than Bridget's... Well, anyway, we were going to ask you; we are having a sleepover tonight at Corina's house - and we wanted to know if you would like to come!"

"Yeah." Kiki said. "Kind of in celebration of the new Mew Mew, you know?"

Sophie laughed, "Sure you guys. That's be fun."

"Great!" Kiki said. "Now we have to start planning stuff! What games should we play? What food should we bring? I have popcorn at my house that needs to be finished up. What about -" She was cut off by Elliot as he entered the room with an urgent look in his face. "It's time to close up shop. Give any customers still here a gift card enough for a free dinner and shoo them out. We have a monster on our hands."

"Monsters?" Sophie gulped. "This is new..."

"Yes, now hurry up. We need to leave as quickly as possible." As he said it, he went into the back room again to talk to Wesley.

After the girls quickly got the costumers out of the building, Zoey and the others' transformed into their Mew form. Then, Zoey approached Sophie with a little pink fluffball floating at her side. "Meet Mini Mew!" She declared. "He supplies the Power Pendants - as well as loyal friendship to all of us Mew Mews." As she said it, the little puffball nuzzled her. "Okay now, Mini Mew. Give Sophie a Power Pendant!"

Mini Mew floated to Sophie's side and spat out one of the little golden pendants. "Okay," Sophie said, "Here goes nothing. Power Pendant; Mew-tamorphosis!" For the second time, Sophie felt herself being lifted from the ground as her outfit changed, and her fuzzy ears and tail emerged. "Wow, I don't think I will ever get used to this." She said softly.

"That's what I thought at first!" Zoey said. "But don't worry, you will eventually." She smiled warmly.

"Okay, so now what?" Sophie wondered.

"Now, we find the monster!"

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

_This is never going to work._ Dren thought to himself as he looked his latest Chimera animal up and down. It had originally been a simple purple squid, but was now an enormous monster with ten foot long tentacles and thick, deadly spines running along its back. _ I can't believe my father is making me do this._ He ran his fingers through his shaggy hair, thinking about what he had to do. Because of his previous "failure", his father had given him another chance, only using his own plans. The Chimera squid was supposed to be a diversion to get the Mew Mews away from Sophie, and then he was supposed to capture her, for the second time. He wished he could do things his own way, but now he was risking losing his father's trust; and that was something he didn't want to give up. _Things are so different now that I am working for him, and not Deep Blue_, he thought. _I didn't give a care what he thought of me, but my father..._ his thoughts trailed off as he saw the Mew Mews approaching at a steady speed, with Zoey in the lead. He craned his neck to see Sophie lagging behind in the back. She was now in her Mew form, and looked quite different. He had seen her ears and tail twice before already; once when he first met her, and the other time when he had kissed her - even though she hadn't realized it. He chuckled at the memory. As she got closer, he noticed that her blonde hair had turned to a glossy silver that was shining in the moonlight, and then he saw that her eyes had changed to a menacing gray. She looked beautiful, but in a dangerous way. He finally looked away. _Why am I thinking of her in this way? _ He thought miserably. _She is the enemy, and to have feelings for her is to betray my father and his plans._

At that thought, his heart hardened and he cleared the emotions from himself. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. _It's time to prove myself to my father._

"So, you finally decided to come and fight!" He called out. "I was beginning to think you'd never show up."

"Yeah, well you thought wrong!" Zoey yelled back. "What are you doing, trying to take over Earth again? Didn't you learn your lesson the first time?"

"Well, if it isn't my old toy." Dren said menacingly. He felt hurt by the bitterness in her tone, after what he had done for her only a few months back. "How's that Blue Knight of yours?" He added.

"Fine!" she said. "In fact, we're going out to dinner this evening - so if you don't mind, let's get this battle over with." She held her Strawberry Bell in her hand and suddenly began to chant, "Mew Mew Style, Mew Mew Grace, Mew Mew Power in your face!" as she struck a pose.

"Still so childish." Dren mused while smirking.

"You're the one who still plays with toys!" She growled back. "Time for a Strawberry Bell attack!" she decided as she turned to the monstrous beast in front of her. "Strawberry Bell!" She yelled, "Full Power!" A pale pink light erupted from her heart-shaped weapon, and hit her opponent with surprising force, causing dust and dirt to fill the area around the beast. She waited expectantly for the dust to settle, but instead of seeing an injured monster; there stood the squid, completely unfazed. "Looks like we're going to have to get this one together, you guys." She called back to the others. "Let's destroy this thing!" As she said it; Corina, Kiki, Bridget and Renee stepped up by her side.

"Umm, you guys?" Sophie started. "I don't know how to use my powers yet."

"Don't worry, Sophie! The words will just come to you when you need them." Bridget explained. "That's what happened to all of us!" She added as she turned away, and with the others; began attacking the monster.

Before she could answer, or approach the monster; she felt a hand close around her mouth and a firm hand clasp around her upper-arm and she was thriftily pulled away from the scene and towards a red brick building nearby. Once she came back to her senses, she elbowed her captor as hard as she could; causing him to loosen his grip, and for her to quickly leap away. Once she was a safe distance away, she saw Dren with his hand on his chest, clearly recovering from her merciless blow.

The emotions of fear, anger and confusion sifted through her mind and suddenly, her mind cleared, showing her two simple words. Silver Fang. As these words formed in her head, a silvery blue, blade-like item appeared in her hand. "Silv-" she began. But as the first syllable left her mouth, Dren pinned her to the ground, causing her new weapon to skid across the ground; several feet out of arm's reach. She was utterly helpless now, since her wrists were held down.

"What do you want from me?" She cried.

"What I want is to carry out my father's orders and take you to him. You already know why." He said.

"But why me?" She asked miserably. "I mean, I don't want my new friends in danger either - but why do you have to use me?"

"Because my dear, you are part alien."


	9. Chapter 9  Secrets

**Surprised? Wait till you read the end of this chapter! BTW, sorry about the wait for this one. I was suffering from writer's block... again... *sigh*, but thanks to my friend IanK24 (visit his profile for some awesome Pokemon fanfics!), I overcame it. :D He actually came up with the idea of Sophie being an alien. (I wanted to try to overcome any Mary-Sueness Sophie had) After some consideration of how this would work, I decided to use the idea, and it actually turned out quite well. :) So THANK YOU IAN**

"I'm a what?" Sophie cried.

"You are part alien." Dren repeated calmly.

"What are you talking about? I don't have crazy ears, or anything like that."

"Well, let me explain then," he said as he pulled her to her feet. "No running off though." He added while waving his hand. Sophie was startled to see thick green vines wrapping around her ankles. She gasped in horror.

"Don't worry, it's just a plant." Dren said. "A gift of the aliens is that we can manipulate nature. Just warning you though, don't struggle too much - or they will tighten."

Sophie glared. "Fine. You have me tied down, so explain!"

"No need to get all feisty." Dren said, holding up his hands. "Well anyway, we lived here thousands of years ago, until a natural disaster occurred, forcing us to leave this planet and seek out a new one. Well, there were five of us who stayed behind, because they believed that they could turn things around. When the humans came though, they forgot about us and helped the humans along with what has become of today. Needless to say, they intermarried with humans, causing a small branch of half-human, half-alien people to leaf out through time. Believe it or not, you are one of those descendants." Then he added, "We can only use that Power Pendant on our kind, or those who have descended from us. That is why we need you."

Sophie gaped. This could not be true. First, she found out she was half-fox, and now she was part alien too! Things couldn't get any weirder than this.

As if reading her mind he added, "Oh, and since you a descendant of the aliens, then it is quite possible that, using the Power Pendant properly, you could fully become one of us."

Sophie started to feel dizzy, and then she began to hear running and shouts, and Dren began to walk towards her. But before he could lay a hand on her to teleport, she passed out and fell out of reach, causing Dren to trip over her, spraining his ankle in the process. "Argh, no!" Dren exclaimed, as he struggled to get up.

"Heart Arrow!" He heard Corina cry, and he was thrown backwards, hitting his head on the brick wall behind him. "Owww..." he groaned.

"What did you do to Sophie?" Zoey breathed. "She's unconscious!"

"I didn't do anything to her." He mumbled, "She just passed out for some reason." He shakily got to his feet. "See ya!" He said, vanishing before Zoey could pull out her Strawberry Bell.

She sighed and ran back to Sophie's side. "We'd better get her back to the Cafe." She said quietly. "Wesley and Elliot will know what to do."

With that, Renee scooped her up and said, "Let's get going."

Zoey's eyes widened. "Wow, looks like your Tae Kwon Do classes payed off."

"She's light." Renee replied flatly. "Now come on, we need to get her back before things get worse." Once said, she began to hurry off down the road, with the other four girls trailing behind.

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

Sophie slowly opened her eyes and began to sleepily look around the room; seeing all five Mew Mews around her, and a cozy white quilt laid atop her - which was clearly not her own. She shot up, nearly hitting Corina who quickly stepped aside.

"Watch it!" Corina snapped. "You need to lay back down. We're still not sure why you passed out like that." She frowned, watching Sophie expression go from blank, to alarm.

As the memories began to sink back in; she fell back onto her pillow. She didn't want to tell them why she had passed out. To tell them she was part alien would only worry them. To _be_ part alien was to put them in danger. She sighed doubtfully. What could she do now? She was now a target to the aliens, which put the others in danger as well.

"So, what happened anyway?" Zoey asked curiously.

Sophie wasn't sure if she wanted to tell them her new secret. She really didn't want to worry them. Before she could come up with an answer, Elliot briskly entered the room. _Thank goodness!_ Sophie thought. _Maybe I won't have to tell after all._ But she had hoped for too much.

"Good! You're awake." Elliot said. "We need to know what happened to you today."

Sophie sighed. Perhaps she was meant to tell them. "Well..." She started. "Dren tried-" She was cut off as Wesley entered the room carrying a silver platter with a plate of steaming food and a mug of hot chocolate. "Good to see you're awake Sophie!" He said warmly. "We made you delicious food. I hope you are well enough to eat now."

Sophie couldn't help but stifle a small laugh. Maybe she could postpone telling them what happened. "Wow, thanks! It all looks so good." She said as he placed the tray in front of her.

"Come on, guys." Wesley added. "Let's give her some peace and quiet now." When he said it, Sophie saw Elliot's look of annoyance, but he obeyed and left the room with the Wesley and the Mew Mews. As the door closed, Sophie looked down at her food. It was breakfast foods; steaming apple-cinnamon porridge, crisp, flaky English muffins, and a glass of orange juice. She cocked her head, and frowned, and then got up to open the curtains of a nearby window. Blinding light spilled through the glass, causing Sophie to squint. She had slept through the night! What were her parents thinking? They were probably worried sick! Added to that, she had missed the sleepover. She sighed. _No use thinking about all that now_, she thought. _Everyone is probably carrying on with their daily activities right now._

She quickly ate her breakfast, and laid back down. What was she going to do? Most likely, Elliot or the Mews would bring up the subject of her passing out again, and she still didn't think she should tell them.

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

Dren sat on his huge, ancient, king-sized bed, resting his chin on his hand. His amber eyes scanned the massive room surrounding him. Everything about this mansion was over-sized, dusty, and dreary. Everything about it made him feel cold and empty.

As he sat there, he thought about his mother and all the times they had had together. He remembered her dark auburn hair, the way she always smelled like cinnamon, and most of all - her stormy gray eyes. Those playful, mischievous gray eyes that he had gotten to see again just yesterday, but on someone else. On his little fox. The more he thought about Sophie, the more she reminded him of his mother; her calm, kind personality, the way she was short-tempered when she needed to be.

He smiled slightly when he remembered the time he watched her defend herself against Krej, and the Eldeewts. Sophie hadn't realized it, but he had been there too, a distance away, but close enough to intervene when the time came.

Suddenly he frowned. How had his thoughts trailed off from his mother, to Sophie? Because he had feelings for her, and he couldn't help it - that was clearly the reason. Was she just a toy, like Zoey once had been? Or did he feel differently for her? He had thought about Zoey often too, but somehow, it was different. He had a gut feeling that Sophie was different. She hadn't acted disgusted when he had stolen a kiss, nor had she mocked him for, well, _anything._

He looked down at the smooth hard-wood floor and sighed. He hadn't felt guilty about going after Zoey, but now that his Dad was counting on him to help carry out his plan, he couldn't help but feel like he was betraying him by thinking about Sophie in this way. He groaned. Why was it so hard to fight his feelings? He had been struggling with them ever since he had first seen Sophie at the skate park. Suddenly, for the second time, her words came to his mind. _Why not just talk with our presidents and ask if your race and ours can share the planet? There's plenty of room for all of us! _Was this such a ridiculous thought? After what Sardon, Tarb and he had done on their previous visit, it probably was.

As he pondered these things, he began to feel the hair on his neck stand up, and suddenly steady footsteps echoed though the room, causing Dren to turn and see that a slender figure had appeared in the doorway. She had long, midnight blue hair, and icy blue eyes. Her voice was just as cold as her eyes as she said, "You must be Dren, if I'm not mistaken." She eyed him with those piercing blue eyes, which were masked by what looked like an eternal frown.

"That's me." Dren said solemnly. "Might I ask who you are?" There were approximately five females living in the mansion, all of which he knew. This young woman was not one of them.

"My name is Glacia." She replied icily, as if she was offended by the fact that he didn't know her. "Your father sent me to come see you."

Dren raised an eyebrow. "Okay... so, can I help you with something?"

"Not really." She replied. "You were looking pretty love-struck or something when I came in." Glacia smiled, almost smugly.

Dren scowled. Who did this girl think she was, invading his privacy? "Why would you want to know?" He demanded.

Glacia gave him a bitter look, "Didn't your father tell you? It has been arranged for us to marry!"

**So yeah! I decided to spice it up a bit. Just wait till you read the next chapter. :} I have a lot of it done already, so it might be coming soon.**

**And THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FAVOURITE-ING THIS STORY! And thank you a bazillion for the reviews, it means a lot to me - (I love reviews!) So anyway, please feel free to leave questions, comments, criticism - whatever. Don't be afraid to point out mistakes, or tell me what you don't like about the story - it'll help me along with the other chapters. :) Thanks again everyone. :)**


	10. Chapter 10 It's a Date

For several moments, Dren stared at her blankly. Arranged to... marry? Sure, that was what many of the people of his realm did, but his mother had always been against it.

"Surprised?" Glacia asked, almost gleefully. "Wasn't expecting someone as pretty as me, were you?"

Dren felt disgusted by the words. She was quite beautiful, but from the first time he saw her, he could just tell that she was a snob. He suddenly stood up. "My Mother would never have allowed this to happen! What are you getting at?" He demanded.

Glacia looked startled by his sudden anger. "It's the truth!" She insisted. "Remember, your mother isn't _here_!" She narrowed her eyes. "Your father just wanted you out of his sight and you know it. Your Mom was the only one standing in his way"

Dren could hardly contain his rage at that last simple phrase. "How _dare_ you say that?" He hissed. "I doubt you even know my family."

"Oh, so you don't remember me at all?" She looked disappointed. "I remember you." She smiled flirtatiously.

"Remember you...?" He was pretty sure he would have remembered someone so rude.

"Mhmm." She said. "We met in kindergarten." She chuckled, as if remembering something. "And you kissed me."

"What?" Dren said. "Okay, you know what, just go away, okay? I like someone else!"

"Aha! So you _are_ love-struck." She said in a satisfied tone. "Well, too bad for you." She gave him one last contented smile, and briskly left the room.

Dren sat back down on his bed, shaking with anger. What was this girl's problem? Barging into his room, basically telling him that his parents didn't care about him, and randomly saying that they had to get married! What was this all about, anyway? Either way, there was no way he was going to let his father tell him what he had to do. In fact, he decided that going to talk to him right now was probably the best thing to do.

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

Dren silently approached the heavy, wooden door that led to his father's study. After lightly tapping on the door, he heard his father's gruff voice. "I hope this is important; come in."

Dren swung the massive door open, and entered. "Ah, my son. Received a visit from an old friend, is that right?" His father looked amused as he said it.

"That's what I have come to talk to you about." Dren said, trying to keep calm. He knew his father was not one to trifle with. After hearing his father's continuous silence, he took a shaky breath and said, "Remember how Mother always used to say marriage was never complete without love?" He asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Of course I do." His father replied. "But as she found out, arranged marriages can turn out to be good." He smiled, indicating to himself.

"Yes father." Dren agreed. "But, she told me that she got lucky. She said that most of her friends were unhappy with their marriages. All of them had someone they truly loved, whom they had to leave behind for their betrothed." He looked down, trying to find the right words to say. "Anyway, you don't think I could possibly be right for that... that... little brat." He scowled at the thought of the girl.

"That's not what matters." His father replied bluntly. "What matters is that you get married soon and start a family. Once the humans are destroyed, we need to increase our sparse numbers." Then he added, "You _are _17 now. That is the suitable age to marry."

"Why can't we do things the way humans here do?" Dren continued. "Why can't we marry when we want - and to whom we want? It seems much more logical to me."

At that, his father had a sudden glint of rage in his amber eyes. "What the humans do does not _matter_ to me." The bitterness in his voice seemed to drill through Dren's mind, almost causing him to lose site of what he wanted. "You see what the humans do, and you see where they have ended up!" His stare continued to pierce through Dren, making him feel weak and powerless. "Now, I want you to be happy with the lovely young lady we have chosen for you. I don't know who you are referring to, if anyone, when you speak of love, but let me tell you this; Love is a weakness. Think of that Zoey girl, and how she got in the way of your plans?" He smiled bitterly when he saw the drop of confidence in Dren's pale face. "Ah, yes. You remember don't you? Yes, Sardon was sure to tell me all about it. Just remember, it was all.. because.. of you. It was because of you and your silly feelings that Sardon failed to defeat those Mew Mews. Just remember all those opportunities that he had that you interfered with! Remember those times, Dren. Love_ is _a weakness."

Dren clenched his fists, and looked at his feet. He could feel the anger surging through him. Why was his father being like this? He loved his mother, didn't he? "You're wrong, Father!" He yelled. "And nothing you can say will make me change my mind!" With that, he fled the room, then the building, and the courtyards, and into a golden field; cluttered by sunny marigolds and cheerful chrysanthemums, and choked by black-eyed susan vines. Lonely white willows were scattered here and there, shading some of the brightness of the golden flowers.

Dren paused, taking in the scene. Normally, he never really took notice of things like this - but it suddenly struck him that there was beauty left in this world. Not everything was perfect, but it wasn't all destroyed.

He suddenly fell back on his back onto the endless cushion of flowers. He could feel his eyes stinging from dismay. What if they destroyed everything on this planet, and nothing like this came back? What if they tried to start from scratch, but everything was gone; barren; just like their planet? These thoughts began to force their way into his mind, making him wonder why he ever re-signed up for this project.

He suddenly sat up. He had a sudden feeling that he wanted to see Sophie, and talk to her. She seemed like an understanding person; maybe she could tell him what to do.

With that, he closed his eyes, and pictured in his mind Sophie's face, and after feeling a gust of wind, he was suddenly outside Cafe Mew Mew, only a few feet away from Sophie, who was sitting by a tree, with her chin resting on her hands. She looked up, startled - and quickly got to her feet, and began to bolt towards the Cafe door. But before she could make it within five feet of the entrance, Dren teleported in front of her.

Sophie halted. "What do you want, Dren?" She demanded.

Dren suddenly remembered that during their last encounter, he had tried to kidnap her again. "Umm, sorry about before." He stammered, "I just need to talk to you."

Sophie gave him a dis-trustful look and began to take off in another direction, only to see Dren teleport in front of her again.

"Why do you keep coming to look for me?" She questioned, and, without thinking, "If you want to ask me out, all you have to do is ask!" She covered her mouth with her hand, as if she hadn't meant to say it.

"Well, I figured if I did, I didn't have a chance, but since you suggested it - will you go out with me?" Dren could feel his heart rising in his chest.

Sophie bit her lip and looked down. "So... You really are sorry about what happened earlier?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah." Dren said sincerely. "I.. it's my father." He said, giving the ground a side-ways stare.

"I understand." Sophie said quietly. "I try to live up to my parents' expectations too, but sometimes it's better to listen to what your heart tells you." She looked up and added, "Erm, well - where do you want to go anyway?"

Dren straightened, completely forgetting the fact that he didn't know any of the places on this planet, except for a place called McDonalds and another called Wendy's, but both he heard were not somewhere you would take someone on a first date. "Uh, how about you choose?" He asked, trying to avoid the fact that he didn't know his way around.

Sophie smiled in a teasing way. "How about that little ice cream shop I met you at?" She suggested.

Dren sighed quietly in relief. "Sounds good to me. I like this ice cream stuff that you humans make."

"Churrrr, I still need to check up with my parents!" Sophie exclaimed, then a puzzled look washed across her face. "Did I just say... Churr?"

"Must be a fox sound." Dren replied simply. "Zoey says 'Nya', like a kitten. Apparently your Mew Mew symptoms are coming slower than the others'." Then he added, "It sounds kind of cute."

After shooting him an awkward glance, Sophie sighed. "This is getting weirder all the time. Well, I better get going - see you at the ice cream shop at... 3:00?"

"Fine with me." Dren said, and he vanished, appearing in his over-sized bedroom. "I'm definitely not going downstairs." He mumbled to himself as he locked the oak-wooden door of his room.

Suddenly a thought came to him. He had heard from people that you should make yourself look nice for a date. He always looked good, right? He sighed. Maybe he should wear something different.

He began to rummage in the dusty old wardrobe on the wall opposite the bed. It was full of clothes from at least a century ago and they all had clearly belonged to someone about his and size, but none of them he had ever seen anyone wearing out on the streets here. He pulled out a red waist-coat with gold trim, and a pair of khaki breeches. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, "These all smell of mold! I've heard that on dates, you should _smell _nice too."

He sighed as he put the severely out-dated clothing back in the wardrobe. "Oi." He said to himself. "Why did I sign up for this? Stalking is _so _much easier."

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

Sophie slowly stepped up to the big red doors of her home, considering what she should say. She peeked in the window to see lights on, and her parents quietly sitting at the couch, watching TV. She wondered why they looked so calm and relaxed. Surely they were wondering where she was at!

Sophie took a deep breath and entered the house. The cozy smell of the crackling fire greeted her as she stepped inside.

"Oh! Sophie, you're back! I was wondering when you'd show up." Her Mom said casually.

"Uhm..." Sophie started. "You... weren't worried? I _was_ gone overnight."

Her Mom laughed. "I know you choose your friends well - and that Bridget girl seems like such a sweet heart."

"Oh! Riiight." Sophie said, blushing in embarrassment. Of course they had contacted her parents! She sighed in relief.

"Well, you're just in time for lunch!" Her Mom said happily. "I made chili, and it's nearly done. Would you set the table please, dear?"

"Sure thing." Sophie replied as she entered the kitchen and began to collect three sets of dishes. As she began to lay them out, she started to wonder what she should wear for this afternoon. She was thinking her black, paint-splatter effect T-shirt, the jeans she was wearing now, with perhaps a chain hooked to the belt, and, of course - her favourite fingerless gloves. As she thought about these things, she glanced at the window to see a flash of blue. Sophie rubbed her eyes, and stared again, but nothing happened.

"Crazy fox instincts." she said to herself. "Okay! Table's all set!" She said loudly so her parents could hear.

After they were seated, and their food dished out, Sophie began to take off her gloves as she normally did when she ate. As she pulled off the right one, she noticed a pink spot on her hand. She rubbed her hand, expecting it to come off - but rather, as she looked closer, she saw that it was in the shape of a twinkling star. "Crap." She muttered as she pulled her gloves back on. _Yet another side-effect of being part animal, I presume? _She thought to herself.

She hurriedly finished her lunch, and went up to her room. It was 1:15, so she had lots of time to get ready.

After showering, blow-drying and straightening her hair, and re-doing her makeup, she went to go sit down on her bed. It was now 2:30. She picked up a book and began reading, but kept losing her place since she couldn't seem to focus.

After what felt like an hour, it was 2:47. "Better get going." She said to herself, and she headed down the stairs. "I'm going out for a while!" She said quickly to her parents as she headed out the door. "I have my phone with me, and it's charged - so you can call if you need to." she added as she quickly shut the door and headed down the street. It was about three miles away, so she didn't mind walking.

She was half way there when she saw Dren suddenly appear in front of her, nearly making her topple over in surprise.

"Hey little fox, I came to pick you up." He said, holding out his hand.

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You sure you aren't going to turn me in to the bad-guys again?"

"Promise." Dren replied.

"Okay." She said quietly, putting her hand in his. She had Zoey on her phone now, so she could call if things went wrong.

But the suspicion was for nothing, for she quickly found herself right outside the cute little ice cream shop they had met at.

Out of no where, Dren suddenly gave her a hug. A startled Sophie said, "Uhh, Dren? What was that for?"

He quickly pulled away, turning bright red. "I read somewhere that girls on this planet like hugs." He put his hand behind his head, avoiding eye contact.

Sophie laughed. "We do. But that was a little... random."

"Okay, got it." He said quietly. He couldn't possibly look any more embarrassed. "I have a question." he added.

"Okay, what's that?"

"Is Yahoo Answers reliable?"

Sophie laughed. "Sometimes. But not all of the time. Sometimes you get people who just tease you, if they think the question is obvious, or ridiculous. Why?"

"Umm, so are lizards a good gift for someone?"

Sophie gaped. "You didn't..."

"What? No!" He said, quickly throwing something out of his pocket. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, but you'll pick it up on your own."

Dren sighed. "Okay... so, shall we go in now?"

"Yeah, that might be good." Sophie said, and they quickly entered the shop.

Suddenly Dren paled. "Uhh, so how do we get the food? I can see it behind the counter - but how do you get it?"

Sophie bit her lip. "You have to.. well, buy it." She said as kindly as she could.

"Oh.. with what?" He asked as Sophie's eyes widened in disbelief. "It's just, where I come from, if you 'go out to eat', you normally just go up to a rack, take the food you want, and go sit down and eat. Everything comes in a small amount, since there isn't a lot of food, but you don't have to trade anything for it. The food storage is for everyone's use."

"That's... um, different..." Sophie said. "How about I buy the ice cream?" she decided. "Come one, come pick out what you want."

Dren stepped up to the counter and looked up at the menu. "Wow," he said, "I've never had anything like that before." He pointed up to a banana split.

"Oh, those are really good. I'll get you one and you can tell me what you think." She said. "One banana split, and a fudge waffle cone, please." She said to the guy at the counter who was looking at Dren strangely.

"Uhm, yeah okay." He said rather absently. "Are you... in the circus or something?"

Sophie glanced at Dren, and realization set it. She had gotten so used to seeing Dren's large elf ears, that she hadn't even thought of it! "We, uh, just got back from a costume party. He's an elf, and I'm.." She paused for a moment, trying to think of something embarrassing. Suddenly she remembered when she messed up on singing in a talent show. She felt her tail and ears pop out as she said, "A fox!"

The guy's eyes widened. "Wow. That was cool... and creepy. Anyway, your ice cream will be done in about twenty minutes, the ice cream machine isn't functioning properly."

After receiving another strange look, Dren and Sophie went to sit down.

"Okay." Dren said quietly. "What was that all about?"

"You can't tell people you're an alien!" She hissed quietly. "You'll be turned into the government for experiments or something!"

"What's the government?"

Sophie sighed. "A band of evil, power-hungry people who want your money."

"Oh." He said. "Now, this money stuff is what you trade for food and other things, right?"

Sophie fell forward, putting her head in in he arms. "Yes, Dren."

He had a sudden miserable look on his face. "I'm sorry." He said. "I'm hopeless, aren't I?"

Sophie looked up and sighed. "No. It's fine. I'm just not - hey, what's that?" A flash of blue like the one she saw earlier appeared in one of the nearby windows.

"What's what?" Dren asked, turning to look in the direction she was staring.

"I thought I just saw... another alien. With blue hair."

**Wow, this chapter ended up being pretty long. :) So, a certain blue-haired alien is now following Sophie around. Can you guess who? ;) Find out what happens next time!**


	11. Chapter 11 I Get a Phone Number

Dren frowned.

"Hold on, let me go check." She quickly got up and rushed to the door.

"Okay, I'll be here." Dren replied.

Sophie darted out of the building and on to the patio. She couldn't see anything but tables and chairs and... bushes. She ran towards the leafy area, and something caught on her ankle, this time it wasn't a tree root, but a bony hand wrapped around her ankle. Sophie tripped and fell to the ground, nearly knocking the wind out of her.

She slowly picked herself up, only to find those scrawny white fingers beginning to curl around her throat. She elbowed her attacker in the face, causing them to let go and fall backward. Sophie whirled around to see a slender, female, blue-haired, elf-like alien holding her hand to her face, covering her nose and eyes. "Oh! How could you?" She demanded in an icy voice. "Try to damage my beautiful face! You insolent child!"

As her hand was slowly drawn away from her face, she saw that this woman couldn't be but a year older than herself. Sophie choked back a laugh. "I could say the same for you."

A furious stare washed over the alien's face and she lunged for Sophie, who quickly dodged. "What are you trying to do?" Sophie asked casually.

"Destroy you!" She yelled angrily.

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "Uhh, and may I be so bold as to ask.. why?"

"Hasn't Dren told you?" She asked with a satisfactory look on her face. "I am to be his wife."

"What on earth are you talking about, Alien?" Sophie demanded.

"Mhm, it has been arranged for us to marry." She explained bitterly. "You are standing in my way of getting him to fall in love with me."

Sophie smirked. "So... You went up to him, told him he has to marry you, and he declined?"

The blue-haired alien shot her the dagger-look. "He has no choice!"

Sophie frowned. Why hadn't Dren mentioned this? She suddenly felt kind of bad about being on a date with someone who was apparently supposed to marry someone else. Half of her didn't believe her though.

"That's a pretty cowardly way to try to win someone over!" She snapped.

The blue-haired alien laughed coldly. "You still don't believe me?" She asked. "Perhaps this could be proof." She held up her hand to display a rather gaudy diamond ring that decorated left ring-finger.

"Anyone could have given that to you." Sophie said quietly.

"Ah, but you don't really believe that do you? I'm of his race, and beautiful at that. And what are you? A mere human who is in desperate need of some more feminine clothing."

Sophie stood up and looked down into the eyes of the snobby alien. "A mere human, you assume? What do you take of this?" Sophie dug in her pocket until her finger touched a small, cold item. As she pressed the button, she felt herself transform and her silver dagger place itself in her right hand.

"I dunno, but there's something a little too animal-like about me to just be a 'mere human.'" She said, as her ears twitched and her tail wagged faintly.

The alien quickly pulled a long blue blade out of a sheath that had been hidden in the folds of her skirt. "So you have a few tricks up your sleeve! Well, so do I!" She yelled as she lunged her sword at Sophie. She quickly deflected it with a wave of her knife as she stepped to the side. As the alien tried to attack again, her foot caught on her long skirt, causing her to trip and fall face first into a bush. Sophie couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Oh! So you think that's funny do you? I'll show you funny!" A furious glare dominated her pale face as she raised her glowing sword above her head, intending to slash down at Sophie, but she leaped out of the way just in time. Consequently, the blade came down against her foot, mutilating her shoe and leaving a painful gash on the side of her foot.

Sophie cried out in pain and tried to stand up, but fell back to the ground due to the pain of applying pressure to her foot. "You... have a twisted sense of humour." She managed through a few gasps of pain.

The alien opened her mouth to say something, but was drowned out by the sound of someone yelling. "Glacia! What are you doing here?" It was Dren. "Sophie! Why are you in your Mew form?" He ran up to the scene and knelt down where Sophie was hunched over in pain, clutching her foot.

Suddenly a satisfied look replaced the angry stare of the devious alien. "Well well, a Mew Mew? Those little pests that the boss is after? This ought to be an interesting story." She grinned evilly and vanished.

A strained look came over Dren's face, but he did not go after her. "Sophie? Are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice, pulling Sophie to her feet and holding her in an embrace for support.

Sophie pushed away, and, as she applied pressure to her foot, fell to the ground again, returning to her regular form. He could see a tear forming in her eye, but it was clearly not from the physical pain.

"Sophie, what's wrong?" He asked cautiously as he again knelt down to her level. "What did Glacia say to you?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were engaged?" She demanded in a choked voice.

"What?" Dren frowned, trying to meet Sophie's eyes. "I'm not.."

"That.. Glacia girl came and told me you were going to marry her!"

Dren gently raised her chin up to meet his eyes as he said softly, "I'm not."

"Dren! There was a ring." She said, feeling the tear break free and run down her face.

"Do you really think I would give that childish snob something intended for someone of much greater maturity?"

Sophie blinked. "So what are you saying?"

"My father did the proposing. He thinks I should get married to Glacia, and apparently even topped it with a ring, but I'm not going to marry her. She's not the one that I like." He smiled affectionately. "I really like you Sophie, and I'm not going to let that Glacia character stand in the way of that." Dren then put his hand in his pocket, clearly rummaging for something. "I got this for you." He said pulling something out of his pocket and holding it up. It was a small, pink collar-like necklace with a tag on it. "The front says your name, _Sophie Fox_." He leaned forward and snapped it around her neck. "And on the back; well, see for your self."

Sophie looked down and flipped the tag around to see Dren's name and a phone number below it. She smiled, and felt her heart soften, "So, you didn't know what a banana split was, but you sure know how to win a girl over." She looked up into his amber eyes, but suddenly winced in pain. She looked down at her foot and then closed her eyes. She was almost afraid to take her shoe off.

She saw Dren's look of worry as he asked, "What did Glacia do to you?"

"Don't worry," she said, rather painfully, "It's nothing. Just a scratch."

She could see Dren didn't believe it. He gently placed his hands on her shoe and Sophie winced again. Ever so carefully, he slid it off, revealing her previously white sock, now caked in blood. She looked away. Seeing blood tended to make her feel a little sick.

"Wait here." Dren said.

"Wasn't... planning on getting up." Sophie said, smiling weakly as she watched Dren enter the building. She found it funny that she had never seen this side of him. On the outside, he seemed so care-free, and unconcerned - but he was beginning to show that he had another side to him. A side that did take things seriously, and truly did care. She was amazed at how rapidly he changed his intentions, like how only the day before he was trying to kidnap her and take her to the bad-guys, but was now he was acting as considerate and gentle as a guy could be.

After less than a minute, she saw Dren jogging back towards her, carrying napkins, a cup and what looked to be tape. He plopped down next to her and set the items down nearby. He then looked up at her and said, "This may be painful."

Sophie took a deep breath. "It's okay, go ahead."

With that, Dren slowly began to peel the sock off. Sophie clenched her fists, and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the searing pain. After she felt that the sock was off, she heard Dren breath in sharply.

"Do I want to know how it looks?" Sophie asked miserably.

"Nah, it always hurts more when you know what it looks like." He replied, trying to sound encouraging.

As she felt the wound being cleaned, and then wrapped in what she assumed to be napkins - and probably held in place with tape, she continued to keep her eyes closed to help endure the pain, and because she really _didn't _want to see how it looked.

After what felt like an hour, Dren finally said, "Okay, that's the best I can do with what I had. After I cleaned it, it didn't look too bad - but it was pretty deep. Be sure to keep an eye on it. Glacia's blade was pretty nasty." As Sophie opened her eyes, he added, "What do you say I go in and pick up our order and we can picnic out here?"

Sophie smiled. She had completely forgotten about their order in all the craziness. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her wallet. "Here's five dollars and forty-five cents; the cost of the food." She told Dren as she pulled out the amount and handed it to him.

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit then." With that, he entered the building again, money in hand.

Sophie looked down at her collar again. She wondered about the phone number below Dren's name. She decided she'd ask when he came back.

As she sat there, she looked around at the lush green bushes and orange and red trees enclosing the area behind her. She began to wonder how the aliens could look at all this and want to destroy it all. She also wondered if Dren still wanted to participate in his father's plans. Was she betraying the Mew Mews by having feelings for Dren? She had discovered that he had a better side to him, but he was still tecnically on the bad side. She sighed, rather frustrated with the whole situation.

"Something on your mind, little fox?" She heard a voice behind her say. She jumped in surprise and turned around. "Dren! You really need to quit teleporting and startling me. Someone's going to see you one of these days."

Holding their purchase in his hands, he sat down next to her. "Nah, they seem too sucked into their electronics to notice much around them."

"Speaking of electronics... you have a phone now?" She asked curiously. "Otherwise, what was up with the phone number on the tag?"

He laughed softly. "Don't tell my Dad, but there are a few things created by humans that I have come to like here." As he said it, he pulled a Blackberry out of his pocket. From what Sophie could see, it was the latest version.

Raising an eyebrow, she asked. "How did you manage to get that with no idea what money is?"

"I have my ways." He replied bluntly as he handed her her waffle cone. As their hands touched, she felt herself blush. "Thanks." She said quietly as she drew away.

They sat in silence as they finished their ice cream, both lost in thought. Both unaware of the wide green eyes watching them from a distance.


	12. Chapter 12 Someone To Trust

Sophie continued to sit in silence, wondering what was on Dren's mind. He looked deep in thought as she ventured to ask, "Dren, what are you thinking?"

As if startled out of a trance, he sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what to think." He said. "So many thoughts are racing through my mind, above all what is going to happen when I return back to our hideout." Suddenly, he looked up at Sophie and added, "But let's not think about that now." He leaned in to kiss her, but she quickly raised her arms to prevent him from doing so. "I don't think so, you already stole my _first_ kiss from me." She smiled teasingly as she saw Dren's expression drop in disappointment. "But I'll give you this one." She said softly, as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. She felt her heart quicken as their lips touched, and she felt herself blush as she slowly broke away. She looked up into his eyes to see him staring down into her own, looking mildly surprised. "Thanks." he said quietly. "Your... ears are out." He added, putting his hand on her head, causing her to blush harder and flatten her ears in embarrassment.

Suddenly, her ears pricked up, as she heard rustling nearby. She jerked around, to the sound of the rustling but saw no one. She sighed in annoyance. "Am I getting really paranoid or something?" She asked, almost to herself.

"I heard it too..." Dren said.

Sophie stood up, trying hard not to apply pressure to her wounded foot. She looked out into the dark wooded area behind them, wondering who - or what - was out there. She then turned around, to see the darkening sky. It was clearly getting late. "Dren.." She started. "I really need to get back now. My parents normally want me home before dark."

"Sophie, I don't want you to leave yet. I don't know when, or even if I will be able to see you again on good terms." The pleading in his voice made Sophie come to the sudden realization that what he was saying was probably true. She looked down, wishing things didn't have to be so frustrating.

"Let me at least walk you home." He decided.

Realizing that she would probably have trouble limping home alone, she decided to accept. "Sure. The old fashioned way, where we just walk, right? No teleporting or anything?"

Dren laughed. "I was planning on it. I'll get to spend more time with you that way."

Sophie felt herself blush again as he put his hand in her own and helped her along towards her home.

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

She had barely sat down on the pillowy sofa in her living room, when Sophie's phone began to vibrate wildly in her pocket. She sighed, feeling very tired and ready to take a nap, but pulled her phone out anyway. The caller ID said "Bridget Verdant". Sophie's eyes widened. She had been given permission to take the day off, due to the incident the day before, so work couldn't be the reason. She then shrugged, and opened her phone.

"Hey Bridget. What's up?" She asked.

"Hi! Umm, Sophie?" She started.

"That's me." Sophie replied.

"Okay, good. Well, I was wondering... I am going shopping in about half an hour. I was wondering, would you like to come with me? I need someone to help me pick out an outfit for my school's prom in the spring."

Sophie frowned. This seemed rather short noticed, but she disliked turning down shopping opportunities with her friends. "Sure! I'll ask my Dad if he can drive me down there." Once said, Sophie cupped her hand around the end of the phone and dashed up the stairs, and into her parents room to see her Dad on his laptop. "Hey Dad, Bridget was wondering if I could go to the mall with her. Do you think you can drive me there?" She asked hopefully.

After receiving a "Yes, after I finish this," she relayed the news to Bridget.

"Okay, see you then." Bridget said, immediately hanging up afterward.

Sophie frowned, as she headed to her bedroom to get things together. Something was up with Bridget. She didn't know Bridget all that well, but she knew her well enough to know that she wasn't usually so blunt.

She quickly put on her jacket, grabbed her purse, and was off to the mall with her Dad.

"So, did you have fun last night?" He asked her as he pulled out of the driveway.

"What? Oh! Right, yeah I had loads of fun." She stammered, remembering that she was supposedly at a sleepover the night before.

"It's good to see you've made some new friends!" He said. "Are they pretty nice?"

"Yeah. They're really cool. I think we're going to become really good friends." As she said it, she rested her chin on her hand, wondering just _how_ good of friends they would become. She was apparently going to be seeing them often, since she had work nearly everyday, and had to battle monsters in between. She wondered if they would become good enough friends for her to relay to them her relationship with Dren. She wanted to tell someone about the things going on in her life, but Kailey and Delilah would think she was crazy, and she still didn't fully trust the Mew Mews yet.

After the rather dragging silence, her Dad cut in again. "So, I saw your foot was wrapped. What happened?"

Sophie straightened. She had re-wrapped her foot when she got home with proper material and padding, to help her walk on it, but she hadn't thought of what she could use as an explanation. "While out today, I tripped and sprained my ankle." She decided to leave out the fact that she had gotten cut, because then her Dad would probably want to have a look at it - which would lead to more questions since the cut was clearly done by a blade. She didn't want to have to lie anymore than she had to.

"Oh, you should have come to your Mom or me to have it looked at." He replied. "Ah well, no use now. We're here!" As he said it, he pulled into a parking stall of the rather empty lot of the local shopping mall. Sophie could see Bridget standing at the door, texting on her cell phone. Sophie quickly unbuckled, thanked her Dad for driving her, and dashed out of the car and up to her green-haired friend.

"Sophie!" Bridget called out. "Good to see you."

"Hey you too." Sophie replied, giving her a hug. "So, how about finding you a dress?"

"Yeah." Bridget said quietly. "Uh, do you want to head to Deb first? I've heard they have some nice prom dresses."

Together, they entered the store and began to browse around at all the brightly coloured dresses lining the walls. They passed many unique gowns until a beautiful deep green dress caught Sophie's eye as she wandered along the isles of glittering clothing. Upon closer inspection, the beautiful dress was emerald green with black lace overlaying the base fabric. Silver sequins studded the length of it; together forming the detailed shapes of flowers, butterflies and tendrils. Glitter was gently sprinkled across the lacy fabric.

"Hey Bridget, come look at this!" Sophie called. As Bridget rushed over, she added, "This would look really good on you. The darker green will do a good job at bringing out your eyes."

She could see Bridget's eyes sparkle in delight at the elegant gown. She gingerly lifted the gown away from the rack and held it up to herself. Sophie had been right, it truly looked perfect on her. The green of the dress reflected off her normally blue eyes, making them shine a sea green.

"Wow! You're sure to be the Belle of the Ball in that dress!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Thanks, Sophie! This is so me!" Bridget said happily as she went up to the register to check out.

Sophie waited next to her as the the dress was scanned and bagged. She could tell something was up with Bridget. "Um, Bridg, is there something bothering you?" She asked as Bridget fumbled aimlessly in her purse.

"What? Oh, it's nothing... It's just..." she paused. "I'll tell you when we leave." She gently picked up the bag off the counter and briskly walked towards the hall exit. She guided Sophie over to a small wooden bench nearby. "Okay, Sophie, I have a question... do you like the alien, Dren?"

Sophie felt the colour drain from her face. What made her think that? Was it the time that he had randomly kissed her on their first encounter? Sophie laughed, somewhat nervously. "What would make you ask that?"

Bridget hesitated, then took a deep breath as if debating whether or not to tell Sophie something. "Well, I was hanging out with Zoey earlier today, and Mini Mew alerted us that there was an alien nearby. Zoey was late to an appointment, so I told her I would take care of it. After transforming, I walked past the ice cream shop to saw you in Dren's arms, and you pushed away - but later, I saw that you kissed." After seeing Sophie's look of disbelief, she added in a worried tone, "I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to be spying on you!"

Sophie put her thumb and index finger to her forehead in exasperation, and then sighed. "Bridget, you have to promise not to tell anybody." she pleaded.

"I won't if you don't want me to." Bridget replied sincerely. "It's just... I was worried. Why were you with him?"

"You don't need to worry." Sophie said. "It's not like I'm turning to the bad side or anything like that. It's just..." her words trailed off. The few simple words she was going to say were suddenly so obvious, they were something that she herself hadn't completely come to realize until that moment. "I really do like him, Bridget."

Bridget looked at her with an understanding look in her eyes. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

**So, Sophie has come to like one of the Mew Mews! (What's not to like about Bridget though? She's so nice!) So... the question is - what is happening to Dren right now? Find out in the next chapter of The Secret Mew!**


	13. Chapter 13 I Listen to Justin Bieber

Dren warily lay down on his bed, trying to figure out what he should do. He had already left on bad terms with his father. Who knew what Glacia had said to him? Whatever it was, he knew his dad would be mad. He sat up and put his head in his hands. What could he possibly say that would lessen his father's anger? He finally decided that he would go and talk to his friend who was also staying in the mansion, Keeg.

Ever so quietly, he crept down the long hallway, passing rows of identical doors lining the faded burgundy walls. He came to a halt at the end of the hall and lightly tapped on the towering door facing him. He waited patiently, looking out the window to his left, into the dark night. There were no stars out, and the glowing light of the moon was quenched by thick black clouds. How did the weather always seem to reflect the way one felt? He looked back to the door and almost knocked again, when the door was swung open, revealing a lean young alien of Dren's age. His dark hair hung in his pale face, and his clothes were rather draped over his thin body. This was Keeg, looking paler, and rather unhealthier than usual.

"Hey Keeg, how are you doing?" Dren asked the blue haired boy.

He sighed, and coughed harshly before replying. "I'm alright, I guess. Why don't you come in?" He opened the door wider and stepped aside, as Dren entered. "So what's up? Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Dren sighed. "It's Sophie." he said glumly. "Remember that girl I was telling you about a few days ago?" Keeg nodded, and he continued, "Well, my Dad, Deep Green, wants her so he can use his new invention to make her evil. I don't want that to happen... I don't want her to change in any way. Least of all make her into something that she's not." He paused, letting reality set in, slow and sure. "I just... can't let that happen. And I can't betray my dad either!" he felt sudden bitterness grip his heart. "And to top it off, he's gone and proposed to Glacia for me!"

With that, Keeg breathed in sharply. "Glacia? As in... the blue haired, blue eyed girl, Glacia?"

Dren looked up in confusion. "Yeah, why?"

Keeg bit his lip, looking hurt in some way. "No reason."

Dren suddenly smirked as he came to realization. "You like her, don't you?"

"What? No! Not if she's engaged." pain seemed to flow in his soft brown eyes, and he quickly looked down.

Forgetting his own predicament in an attempt to turn things around, Dren answered, "we're not engaged. Not if I can help it." he clenched his fists, a determined look washing over his face. "Keeg, you and I are going to turn this around. For the better." He suddenly smiled, and narrowed his eyes. "We're paying Glacia a visit."

Keeg's eyes widened, but he had a hopeful look in his eyes. He quickly picked something up off his nightstand, and said, "I hope you have a plan." As Dren grabbed his arm and hauled him down the hall to the door on the opposite end.

He knocked, somewhat loudly and called, "Glacia, it's Dren!"

The colour drained from Keeg's face. "Wait... you don't mean -"

Dren laughed and teleported back to his bedroom.

"Now that's just cruel!" Keeg muttered, deeply annoyed at his annoyingly playful friend.

Light footsteps could be heard as he waited at the door, and it opened to reveal a tired looking Glacia. "I hope this is important, it's late..." she trailed off. "Wait, you're not Dren!"

Keeg gulped, and a million thoughts began to jumble in his mind as he tried to think of what to say. He was used to the way she always seemed so uptight about everything, and he always handled it with a gentle attitude. The sudden spur of the moment left his speechless.

"Well?" She demanded, clearly annoyed.

"I, uh..." he suddenly remembered what he had in his pocket and gently removed it and held it up for Glacia to see. "It's an ice lily." he explained softly. "On the outside, it's icy blue, but on the inside it's a gentle orange colour. It's for you"

Glacia stood, looking aghast. "I.. know what those flowers are. They're my favourite. But.."

"I had to give it to you tonight. I picked it today, and wanted to give it to you before it began to wilt."

Glacia gingerly took it from his hand and looked at it in awe. "I haven't seen one since I was a little girl. Vegetation is always so sparse at home, and these of all the flowers were probably the rarest."

Keeg smiled. _Score_, he thought. "I was back on our planet for the day, and I found it growing in our backyard. It made me think of you, so I picked it and... well, I decided to give it to you." He decided to leave out the part that he probably wouldn't have even thought of going up to her to give her the flower, if it hadn't been for Dren's trick.

"Thanks." she said.

Keeg's heart shot up when he heard the simple word. She rarely ever said that word, to anyone, for whatever reason! "Y-you're welcome." he stuttered. "I'd better get going now." with that, he took off down the hall to Dren's room, and flung the door open. "Oi, if that hadn't went so well - I would so kill you right now!"

As he said it, Dren cracked up laughing. "So it worked? What happened?" after containing himself, he looked at Keeg eagerly, who was now staring off into space with an absent look on his face. "She... she..." he smiled. "She said thanks."

"Uhhh..." Dren started, choking back another laugh, "I guess that's a good thing. But, why did she thank you?"

Keeg gave a contented sigh. "I gave her her favourite flower. And she seemed really pleased, even though she has trouble showing any signs of happiness, I have kind of figured out her 'language'."

Dren looked at him hard. This boy was so nice to everyone, and rarely got angry. What could possibly make him fall so hard for Glacia, of all people? "Keeg, may I ask what you see in her?" the curiosity was overwhelming, that he couldn't help but ask.

"Well," he started, "she's so beautiful, which is why I was first attracted to her. Once I met her, I realized there was much more than met the eye. At first, she seemed so cold and ruthless - but the more I watched her, and talked to her, the more I realized that there is a little soft spot in her heart. It's hard to hit, but easy to miss. The thing she wants is to be loved. Truly loved. I've found out that she has had friend problems throughout most of her life," at this Dren coughed, and sarcastically wondered why that might be. Keeg continued, ignoring Dren's deliberate cough, "she wasn't always like this. She used to be really nice, but apparently rather homely. I didn't know her when she was younger, I just dug up this information." he blushed, apparently realizing how stalkerish that sounded. "Anyway, people teased her a lot, and she became bitter. I believe that she still has the kindly personality still buried in her heart somewhere, it will just take time to uncover. I have even seen glimpses of it now and then, but she quickly regains her bitter attitude."

Dren stared at him. Keeg could truly find the good side in anyone, which he had grown to admire. "Wow, I never even stopped to consider her past. I just plain couldn't see past her veil of evilness. How do you do it?"

Keeg blushed, clearly flattered. "I dunno, I've always had the habit of looking for the best in people." then he added, "so, what about the girl you like? Sophie?"

Dren straightened, remembering the main reason why he was here to talk to Keeg. "Well.. I need to talk to my dad about the whole thing, but I don't quite know what to say."

Keeg hesitated, then frowned, "Well, he's your dad. He should understand. I bet you can work something out."

Dren put his head in his hands, "That's just the thing," he said bitterly, "he just _doesn't_ seem to understand. He's not going to be happy if he finds out that I am dating the enemy. And what about her? What will her team think?" He sighed loudly in exasperation, "well, either way, I'm gonna have to go talk to him and come up with a contradiction to what ever Glacia may have said to him." Before Keeg could answer, he arose, and quickly made for his father's room. He knew he would be up, since lately he had been staying up half the night devising schemes.

Quickly, and quietly he paced down the long hall for the third time, approaching the door near the middle of the long wall. An ancient painting hung crookedly to the left of the door and rattled eerily as he knocked. Rather than hearing his father's booming voice telling him to come in, the door opened slowly, creaking and shuttering all the way. In the door way stood his dad, with his head bowed, and his hands at his sides, clenched in fists. "So," he began in a cold, dreary voice, "have you come with a decent explanation as to what you were doing this afternoon?" he looked up at Dren, with a piercing look in his golden eyes. "According to Glacia, you have got yourself a girlfriend. Is it so? Does she happen to have fox ears, and a tail to match? Does she happen to be our main target, and enemy?" his voice stayed calm and level, but was dripping with fury.

Dren gulped. Did his father really 100% believe Glacia, even though he hadn't told his side of the story? "Glacia said that?" he asked in a fake amused voice, trying hard to keep his cool. "Huh, it sounds to me like she's trying to get me in trouble, so she can have payback for me not liking her."

"Prove it to me then." his father replied. "You are to find out where the fox-girl lives and report it back to me. If you fail, you may end up being sent home with Glacia."

The next day was a chilly Wednesday, while Sophie hummed softly as she cleaned the snowy white tables of Café Mew Mew. The whole day had been a bit of a blur to her. She had quickly completed her school work for the day, skateboarded to work with one of the old boards hanging from her walls, and hung out with Bridget and the others while serving their cheerful customers. Despite the fact that she didn't really enjoy having to wear a frilly dress, she quite liked working at such a warm, cheerful little café. The Mew Mews were always really nice, and so was Wesley. Of course, Elliot was his usual jerk self, such as teasing her about being such a tomboy, and how he had never seen her act so girly as when she greeted her customers. But, she had grown used to it. He was like the big brother that she had never had, and as Wesley had assured her, he was okay once you got to know him.

She gently rubbed the washcloth against the smooth surface of the table, dusting off any stray crumbs, or frosting bits, as the thought of tonight's plans began to surface in her mind. Zoey had re-invited her to a sleepover for that evening, since things didn't work out before. This, Sophie was looking forward to, since she always enjoyed sleepovers, and because the girls gave her the choice of what music to bring. She wondered what they would think of her CDs. She didn't listen to what most girls her age did, such as Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, or any of the annoyingly bubbly Disney stars. She preferred bands like Blue Stali, Ill Niño, Five Finger Death Punch, and lots others along those lines.

She could imagine Renee, Kiki, and maybe even Zoey and Bridget enjoying her music, but she couldn't help but imagine Corina's disgusted face as she played one of her favourite metal bands. She laughed softly as she remembered that face, when she had told Corina she liked to skateboard. Despite the fact that Corina was… well, somewhat nice, Sophie had a rather hard time warming up to her. She seemed to disapprove of just about everything Sophie did, which was one thing she couldn't tolerate in a person. If a person couldn't accept her for being her, then she didn't really like having anything to do with them.

Her train of thought was broken as Elliot entered the room. "Nice work today Sophie." he said without much expression in his voice, "I'll finish up here and close up. Go ahead and skateboard back home and listen to your screamo music."

Sophie felt her face turn a little red at the last phrase, which was dripping with sarcasm. "Whatever." she said, slightly annoyed. "Better to be a girl and listen to rock music, then be a guy listening to Justin Bieber." She indicated to the speakers above her, as the song "Baby" was being carried throughout the room. "This stuff has been playing all day."

Elliot looked offended. "For your information, I don't choose the music. That would be Mini Mew's job."

Sophie laughed. "Last time I checked, Mini Mew wasn't the one who designed this charming little café here." She extended her arms to add emphasis to the very pink, very heart-ey room.

"Most of it was Wesley's doing." he said defensively.

Sophie laughed. "I can imagine."

With that, she was sure she saw him smile slightly.

"Well, I better get going before Katy Perry comes on." She turned around and began to head out the door.

"Sophie!" Elliot called before she could reach the door. "Are you doing anything this evening?"


End file.
